[News] Sex on delivery - Prostitutes call on Yishun foreign workers

Prostitutes call on Yishun foreign workers They serve up vice right on doorstep of workers' dorms

THROUGH THE TREES: These people had earlier walked past a security guard. In this picture, they're taking a short cut - 20m away from the guard post. This break in the treeline leads the women to the rear of the dormitory where, behind a fence, more than 10 women solicit sex for money.

DARKDEEDS: It's dark behind the fence of dormitories at Yishun Avenue 6. The light from a parked vechicle show women in sexy outfits mingling with foreign workers.

The women being picked up by a waiting taxi. Once the women come out into the open, they run quickly into the taxi while a man looks on

CALL it sex on delivery.

The foreign workers living in their quarters at Yishun Avenue 6 do not need to travel far for sex.

The women, also foreign nationals, go to their doorstep in cabs and then boldly solicit business just outside the quarters.

Scantily clad and caked in make-up, they wait in groups for workers to approach them. Nearby, their pimps stand and wait.

The current trend is a clear departure from the way illegal vice operators used to conduct business.

Then, they would usually set up makeshift brothels deep in forested areas and take clients there.

Surprised

Last March, police raided a vice den in the nearby forested area at Yishun and rounded up eight men and 13 women.

Now, the vice operators are back, and are perhaps more audacious than ever.

Their women solicit openly, just metres from the dormitory, which is made up of several fenced-up buildings, next to a road that's normally guarded against such intrusions.

Those who often visit the dormitories were taken by surprise by this trend.

Madam Lynette Chua, 35, who accompanied her construction supervisor husband to meet a worker inside the dormitory, was shocked by what she saw last weekend.

'It was like a mini-Geylang,' said the homemaker.

She said she saw 40-odd men surrounding 10 to 15 women.

'I thought this kind of thing is done discreetly, not outside, so open,' she said.

She said she had no idea how they got there since there were security guards. She suspected the girls may have had got there by going through the forest.

When The New Paper on Sunday visited the site on Wednesday, the first sign that something fishy was going on was a taxi dropping off four women just outside the dormitory, where a man had been waiting.

They were just 20m from a guard sitting at a gated dirt road leading to the compound.

The four women, with the man, dashed behind the line of trees just outside the fence. They quickly made their way to an entry point about 50m away, and slipped into a dark, unguarded road.

At 9.15pm, two men escorted another woman in. Likewise, the woman and one man darted behind the treeline once they were beyond where the guard was. One man stayed outside, probably as a lookout.

And so they trickled in.

But the real action was in the back.

Groups of scantily dressed women were spotted waiting on the side of the narrow dirt road that runs between the fenced hostels and the jungle that stretches behind it all the way to the waters off Pulau Seletar.

One group of eight sat on a slope, in front of the trees, chatting in a foreign language or smoking.

Once in a while, one would leave with an approaching worker into the darkness of the forest, holding torchlights.

One Bangladeshi worker, who declined to be named, said the prostitutes charge $20 or $30 for their services. They are all Thai, he said.

'They will go inside the jungle, for this thing,' he said.

It can be troublesome, he said, because it can lead to police raids in the area. Because these are run by foreign pimps, he said, it can also spark fights there.

Brazen

Then, around 12.30am, five of the women started leaving. Again, not through the back, but by dashing into a waiting taxi on the main road.

Minutes later, another four did the same, after being led out by a muscular, tattooed man.

When contacted, Mr Chng, 62, the supervisor who runs three of six dorms in the workers' quarters, didn't believe that the women were soliciting brazenly, just metres away from the high fence.

His understanding was that they ply their trade only inside the jungle.

'What I know is that they operate a distance away and are warned not to come near the dormitory,' he said.

He added: 'They sneak in from the tracks (from the canal through the forest).'

He declined to give his full name or the name of his company. He was engaged to manage the dorm by Eng Lam Contractors, one of five companies listed as licensees of the Yishun Avenue 6 workers' dormitory on the Ministry of Manpower website.

He said he heard about the 8 Jan raid from one of his managers and said he had got an angry message from the Housing Development Board (HDB) about it.

He insisted it was 'impossible' for prostitutes to be inside his dorms. He said the dormitories require an access card to enter, with turnstiles. However, he said only the high-fenced areas are part of the dorm - everything else is state land and out of his control, he said.

This includes the dirt road, even though there's a barrier and a security guard stationed in front of it.

He said these were installed 'recently' after complaints by the National Environmental Agency and the HDB about illegal dumping.

'There's really nothing much we can do other than informing the police,' he said.

This is even though he has two guards at every dorm, and two more at the dirt road's entry and exit.

No control

He claimed that this sort of thing happens near workers' dormitories all over Singapore. In the dorm, he has rules like no drugs, no alcohol, and no prostitution.

'But outside, there is no way we can control them,' he said.

Under the law, anybody who solicits for the purpose of prostitution can be fined up to $1,000 or jailed up to six months, or both.

MR ALI Akbar, 46, the dormitory manager of Simpang Lodge 1, at 2B Yishun Avenue 7, has a security team, but he still prowls the grounds personally.

He also patrols the area about 10m to 20m outside, too.

'Wherever I see a thick growth of vegetation, I will walk through it once a week,' he said.

He does so to find clues of illegal activity.

The former Cisco security officer will go with one of his executives, but if no one is around, he'll go alone. He also has cameras monitoring the forested area.

He said the dormitory houses about 3,600 workers.

He said he works closely with the police. Not only does he ask for frequent patrols in the area, he also invites patrol cars into his compound.

'I want to make the police presence felt to keep the residents on their toes,' he said.

However, he said he has yet to encounter any illegal activity.

Simpang Lodge's marketing executive Wong Liping said it has facilities like a gymnasium, a TV room, a basketball court and even an Internet room. It also has a spacious cooking area.

Having such facilities keeps workers from straying outside.

'In other dorms, they can't cook, so they'll go out and explore... They may not approach girls, but girls may approach them,' she said.

Mr Tan Poo Seng, who owns View Road Worker Dormitory, said his dormitory is very well kept, but admitted he has no control over what goes on outside.

Gambling, drinking, cooking and bringing girls back are all not allowed there.

'We have two guards, one going around, one just outside checking people. No girls can go in,' he said.

Singapore Contractors Association Limited (Scal) executive director Simon Lee said women are generally not allowed in all-male premises and visitors must be registered and screened before being allowed entry.

While prostitutes appearing in workers dormitories in Singapore 'is an issue', he said it is 'not a common issue or regular happening at workers' dormitories that have good security measures'.

He said: 'Sex workers in workers' dormitory happen infrequently, but this could be because of the workers' physical needs. This must be properly managed within the law instead of allowing them to prowl in our neighbourhood residences.'

What can dormitories do to prevent such cases from happening?

He said: 'The dormitories' security system (CCTV, entry passes), guards, patrolling, strict discipline enforcement and working with neighbourhood police to deter such cases would help to prevent such things from happening.'